Article feed control

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for incorporating in a container feedline for a container-filling machine which comprises a movably mounted can stop member adapted to be projected into the path of the cans advancing to the filling machine to momentarily hold back the cans, and a series of cams carried on a rotating disc or wheel which are manually settable on the wheel in either operative or inoperative position and which, in operative position, move the can stop member to can stopping position on each rotation of the wheel. There is a cam on the wheel for each filling head or station on the filling machine and the rotation of the wheel is synchronized with the movement of the filling machine so that when there is a malfunctioning of a filling head on the filling machine the cam corresponding to the same may be set to interrupt the feed of the cans to that station, thereby enabling repair or adjustment to be delayed until a more convenient time when the machine may be shut down.

United States Patent [72) Inventors Roy S. Rousseau John R. Doyle. bothof Davenport. Iowa: Gar F. Roberts. East \loline. Ill. |2l] Appl. No.770,971 [22] Filed Oct. 28. i968 [45] Patented July 13, I97] 173]Assignee the Kartridg Pak C0,. Dawnport. Iowa [54] ARTICLE FEED CONTROLl4 Claims. l0 Drawing its. [$2] U.S.Cl o. 198/19, l98/34 [51] Int. CLB234 5/22, B23q 7/00 [50] l-ieldolSear-eh l98/19, 34, 25, 26, 22. 22 B[56] Reference: (Iited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,0l3,l44 9/1935Gladfelter.................... l98/22(B) 2,782,897 1/1957 Filander198/22 3,092,237 6/l963 Miller l98/l9 3.l50,7$8 9/l964 Johnson l98/25Primary Examiner- Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner- Douglas D. WattsAttorney-Greist, Lockwood, Greenawalt 81 Dewey ABSTRACT: An apparatusfor incorporating in a container feedline for a container-fillingmachine which comprises a movably mounted can stop member adapted to beprojected into the path of the cans advancing to the filling machine tomomentarily hold back the cans, and a series of cams carried on arotating disc or wheel which are manually settable on the wheel ineither operative or inoperative position and which, in operativeposition. move the can stop member to can stopping position on eachrotation of the wheel. There is a cam on the wheel for each filling heador station on the filling machine and the rotation of the wheel issynchronized with the movement of the filling machine so that when thereis a malfunctioning of a filling head on the filling machine the camcorresponding to the same may be set to interrupt the feed of the cansto that station, thereby enabling repair or adjustment to be delayeduntil a more convenient time when the machine may be shut down.

PATENTED JUL13I97i 3,592,319

I o o 1 l6 INVENTORS |2 l5 ROYSROUSSEAU l4 JOHN R. DOYLE O I a ATT'YS.

PATENIED JUL 1 31971 sum 2 er 3 IN VE N TORS ROY S. ROUS SEAU JOHN R.0on GARY E ROBE s ATT Y SHEEI 3 BF 3 mu su nl fia PATENTEU JUL 1 3 |97|INVEN TORS ROY s. ROUSSEAU JOHN R. DOYLE j) E ROB 76s ,1 ATTJYS. l6

ARTICLE FEED CONTROL This invention relates to article-handlingapparatus and is more particularly concerned with improvements in anapparatus for use in feeding containers to a filling machine or likeprocessing equipment.

In one form of equipment used for feeding empty containers to machinesemployed in filling aerosol containers or the like a straight lineconveyor advances the empty containers to a worm-type spacer whichspaces the containers for delivery to a star wheel, or the like, whichtransfers the containers, one by one, to filling stations spaced aboutthe circumference of a turret on which filling heads are carried so thata container is positioned at each of the filling stations. In theoperation of the filling heads it sometimes occurs that there is somemalfunctioning of the equipment at a station which makes it desirable toeither stop the machine and make whatever repairs or adjustments arenecessary to put the station back into proper operation or todiscontinue the use of the malfunctioning station until the necessaryrepairs or adjustment can be made. There is, of course, a loss of timeand production when the machine is shut down for any reason.Consequently, it is desirable to avoid shutdown of the machine, ifpossible, or at least to delay the same until there is a normal periodof interruption in the operation of the machine, such as, the end of therun or a normal operator rest period or the like. When the machine is ofthe type having a substantial number of filling stations, loss of timecan be minimized if a station can be rendered inoperative withoutshutdown for repairs or adjustment until there is a normal shutdownperiod during which adjustment tn repairs can be taken care of. If thereis a malfunction of the machine and a station becomes inoperative, itis, of course, desirable to eliminate the feeding of an empty containerto the inoperative station. A general object of the present invention isto provide an apparatus for accomplishing this purpose.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide upparatus forincorporation in a line feeding containers to a filling machine of thetype which has a plurality of successive filling heads disposed atspaced filling stations which apparatus is operative to interrupt thefeed of the containers so that an empty container is not fed to astation when the filling at such station is disabled or inoperative.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a filling line for arotary filling machine which has a plurality of circum ferentiallyspaced filling stations, each adapted to receive an empty container fromthe filling line, wherein an apparatus is provided in the filling lineto enable production to continue when one or more heads of the fillingmachine are inoperative without empty containers being fed to theinoperative heads, which apparatus comprises a rotating disc having aseries of cams mounted thereon each corresponding to a station on thefilling machine which cams are adjustable or settable to a position foractuating a stop device which momentarily holds back a container asufficient length of time to prevent its delivery to the correspondingfilling station, the rotation of the disc being synchronized with therotation of the filling machine and the cams being located on the discso that when the operator observes that a station on the rotary machineis not functioning properly, he may adjust or set the proper cam on theaparatus to hold back the container which would otherwise be fed to themalfunctioning or inoperative station.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom a consideration of the several forms of the apparatus which areshown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a side elevation, with portions omitted, of one form of anapparatus which is adapted for association with the infeed mechanism ofa rotary container filling machine so as to enable the operator to holdback the feed of a container or containers to a filling station orstations which may be malfunctioning and which apparatus hasincorporated therein the principal features of the invention;

FIG. 1 is a plan view, to a smaller scale, of the apparatus of FIG. Iand a portion of a rotary filling machine, showing the manner in whichthe apparatus is associated with the infeed mechanism of the fillingmachine, the view being taken on the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, to a largerscale, the view being taken on the line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view, to a still larger scale, showing aportion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the selector cam assembly;

FIG. 6 is a section scale;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6, to alarger scale;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the apparatus of FIG. I, to alarger scale;

FIG. 9 is a partial side elevation of a modified form of the apparatus;and

FIG. 10 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the viewbeing taken on the line 10-40 of FIG. 9.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 8, there is illustrated an apparatus 10for incorporation in the feedline I! for supplying empty containers C toa rotary-type filling machine 12 (FIG. 2), the latter beingcharacterized by a rotary turret, indicated at I, which is disposed foroperation in a horizontal plane, and which has a plurality of containerfilling stations 15, circumferentially spaced about the margin thereof,each of which is provided with a support for an empty container Cpositioned beneath a filling head 16 for receiving a product from thelatter. The container C, which may be aerosol-type cans, for example,are fed to the individual stations 15 by a feed wheel 17 locatedadjacent the discharge end of a spacing screw or worm I8 which isarranged alongside of the path of the straight line conveyor 11.

The infeed line It includes the worm empty cans C the proper distanceapart to be picked up by the feed wheel 17 for delivery to the pocketsor stations 15 of the filling turret [4. The apparatus 10, which isprovided for selecting and holding back the proper can C when it isdesired to skip delivery to a particular station on the filling turret,is mounted on a platelike bracket 20 which is adjustably supported onthe main frame structure 21 of the machine. The bracket 20 is releasablyclamped by bolts 22 and clamp member 23 to the longitudinally extendingchannels 24 which support the upper run of the conveyor ll on which theempty containers C are advanced. A marginal portion 25 is turned up atthe end of the plate bracket 20 to form a flange which carries anadjusting screw 26, the free end of which bears against the verticalface of the one channel 24 so that the position of the bracket 20 andthe mechanism supported thereon may be adjusted relative to the path ofthe container C by loosening the clamp plate 23 and turning theadjusting screw 6. This permits adjustment when required due to changesin the diameter or size of the cans C which are being handled on theequipment,

The selector mechanism or apparatus 10 (FIGS. 4 to 8) comprises arotatable cam supporting plate 30 mounted for rotation in a verticalplane on a driven shaft 31 which extends from a right-angle gear box 32at the top of a vertical drive shaft 33, the latter being suitablyjournaled in the main frame 21. The vertical shaft 33 carries at itsbottom end a sprocket 34 driven by chain 35 running from a main drivefor the apparatus (not shown). The cam support plate 30 carries incircumferentially spaced relation about the marginal portion thereof aseries of platelike cam members 36 each of which is mounted in a radialrecess or slot 37 in the cam support plate 30 and held therein by ashoulder bolt 38 with a spring washer 39. Each cam member 36 is slidablein the associated radial slot 37 toward and from the axis of thesupporting shaft 3] with the distance limited by the length of the slot37. Each cam member 36 extends in a plane normal to the face of thetaken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4, to a larger 18 for spacing the supportplate 30 and tangential relative to the path traversed by the bolt 38.The cam support plate 30 is mounted on a hub member 40 secured on thedrive shaft 31 and locked thereon by a clutch collar 41 having a clutchdetent 42 which cooperates with a recess 43 in the face of the camsupport plate 30, providing limited torque to the cam plate 30 undermachine power and reduced overriding torque in the opposite direction ofrotation for manual turning of the cam support plate or wheel 30 whensetting the cams. The earns 36 are ineffective or nonoperative whenmoved to the outside position in the slots 37. When a cam 36 is movedradially inwardly to an inside position in its slot 37 it actuates a canstop device 45 (FIG. 8) which is mounted adjacent the inside face of thecam support plate 30 on an upright bracket 46. To assist in holding thecams in the two positions the support plate 30 has an annular rib 37'over which the cams are snapped as they are moved from one position tothe other.

The can stop device 45 (FIG. 8) comprises a horizontally disposedplatelike block member 47 having a slot or bore 48 in which a pin 50 isslidably mounted in suitable sleeve bearings. A movement limitingsetscrew 51 is mounted in the block member 47 with its inner endextending into an axially extending slot or flat 52 on the side of thepin 50 so as to limit the axial movement of the latter. A triggerforming arm member 53 is pivotally mounted at 54 at the inner end of themember 47 in a recess 53 cut in the end of the block member 47, pivot 54being adjacent the end of pin 50 so that in the innermost position ofpin 50, as shown in FIG. 8, the stop or trigger arm 53 is swung so thatthe free end is in the path of the cans C advancing on conveyor 11. Thestop arm 53 will hold back the cans, so that they will not be advanced,as long as the member 53 is held in the outwardly swung position shownby the position of the pin 50. The pin 50, when retracted, will have theend 50 thereof projecting into the path of a cam 36, when the latter ismoved to the inside position in its slot 37 so that rotation of thesupport plate 30 will engage the cam 36 with the end of the pin 50 andmove the same axially to the position shown in FIG. 8 which swings thearm 53 into the path of advance of the cans so as to stop the same. Abackup or back stop member 55 is positioned along the path of theconveyor 11 to prevent lateral movement of the cans at the selectorstation. when the cam 36 passes the end of the pin 50 by rotation of thesupport plate 30 the pressure of the cans in the forward direction willmove the stop arm 53 out of the way and permit the cans to advance onthe conveyor 11. With each rotation of the cam support plate 30 the cam36 will actuate the pin 50 to hold back a can C a sufficient length oftime to space the same so that a can will not be delivered to thefilling station 15 on the turret 14 which corresponds to the station onthe cam support plate 30 at which the cam 36 is mounted, that is, the advance of the cans is interrupted and a can is not delivered to thecorresponding turret pocket until the cam 36 is moved to the inoperativeposition, in the outer end of its associated slot 37. Thus, one or morestations may be deactivated on the filling turret and an empty can willnot be moved into the filling position at the selected station orstations. The construction and support for the plate 30 permits manualadjustment of the cams 36, radially on the support plate. It alsopermits adjustment of the support plate 30 about its supporting axis forproperly locating the cams to actuate arm 53 and hold back the cans atthe proper time and for the time interval necessary to skip delivery tothe turret station or pocket which it is desired to take out ofoperation.

A modified arrangement of the selector and can stop apparatus is shownin FIGS. 9 and wherein the apparatus is arranged for pneumaticoperation. In this form of the apparatus the selector mechanism [10 isarranged on the main support frame adjacent the end of the infeed worm117 and mounted on a support frame 120 which in turn is mounted on themain support frame 121 clamped to conveyor channels I24 by clamp plate123 and bolts 122. A cam support plate or cam wheel 130 of the sameconstruction as cam support plate 30 is mounted on the shafi section 131at the top of the drive shaft 133 for operation in a horizontal plane.Cams 136 which are the same construction as earns 36 are mounted foradjustment in radial slots on the support plate in the same manner andthe plate 130 is mounted for adjustment about the supporting shaft 131in the same manner as in the previously described form of the apparatus.A can stop arm 153 is mounted on the piston 154 of the air cylinder I55which is carried on an angle bracket 156 mounted above the cam wheel130. The air cylinder [55 is connected by conduit 157 with an air switch158 mounted on a horizontally disposed frame member 160 so that itsplunger 161 extends into the path of the cams 135. when they arepositioned in the innermost ends of the slots in the cam support plate130, so that the switch 158 is actuated upon rotation of the cam supportplate 130 by any cam I35 which has been moved to the inside of itssupporting slot. The switch 158 operates the air cylinder 155 andprojects the cam stop 153 into the path of the cams for interrupting theadvance of the same. The air switch 158 is connected by conduit 162through an air filter and regulator 163 with an air supply line 164 foroperating the mechanism. The cams may be set manually in operative ornonoperative position in the same manner as in the previously describedform of the apparatus with each of the cams 135 being numbered tocorrespond to the station on the filling machine to which it applies andthe cam wheel 130 being adjustable to coordinate the same with therotation of the filling turret.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding articles to a conveyor having a series of workstations each adapted to receive an article, said apparatus comprising atraveling article supply conveyor on which the articles are advanced toa station for removal and transfer one by one to successive workstations, an article-engaging member positioned for movement into andout of the path of the articles to stop the advance of the articles onthe conveyor for a predetermined period and a rotating wheel having aplurality of manually settable cams mounted thereon, each of which maybe set at a position to cause said article-engaging member to move intothe path of the articles on the conveyor on each revolution of the wheelso as to interrupt the delivery of articles to the work stations, saidcams being equal in number to the number of work stations, and therotation of said wheel being synchronized with the travel of the workstations so that the delivery of an article to a selected work stationmay be prevented by manually setting the proper cam on said wheel.

2. Apparatus for feeding articles to a turret having a plurality ofperipherally spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an article supply conveyor on which thearticles are advanced to a station for removal and transfer one by oneto successive work stations on the turret, an article engaging memberpositioned for movement into and out of the path of the articles to stopthe advance thereof and a rotating wheel having a plurality of spacedmovable cams mounted thereon, each of which may be set at a position tocause said article-engaging member to move into the path of the articlesso as to stop the advance of the articles momentarily and interrupt thedelivery of an articles to a work station, said cams being equal innumber to the number of work stations on the turret, and the rotation ofsaid wheel being synchronized with the rotation of the turret so thatthe delivery of an article to each work station is deter mined by theposition of one of the cams on said wheel.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2, and said article engaging membercomprising a swingably mounted arm with an associated operating mannerwhich is engageable by a preset cam on said cam carrying wheel.

4. Apparatus for feeding articles to a traveling work con veyor having aplurality of spaced work stations each adapted to receive an articlessaid apparatus comprising an articlefeeding conveyor means on which thearticles are advanced to a station for transfer one by one to successivework stations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement intoand out of the path of the articles advancing on the article-feedingconveyor means to stop the advance thereof and a rotatably mounted dischaving a plurality of cams movably mounted thereon, there being a camfor each of the work stations on the work conveyor. each of said camsbeing movable from an inoperative position to an operative positionwhere it will move said stop means into the path of the articles so asto stop the advance of the articles on the article-feeding conveyormeans and interrupt the delivery of an article to a selected workstation, and means for rotating said cam supporting disc with the travelof said disc being synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor sothat the delivery of an article to a selected work station may beinterrupted by moving to an operative position the cam on said discwhich corresponds to the selected work station, said stop means beingmoved into the path of the articles to interrupt the advance of anarticle to said selected work station upon each rotation of said disc.

5, Apparatus for feeding articles to a traveling work conveyor having aplurality of spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an articlefeeding conveyor means on which thearticles are advanced to a station for transfer one by one to successivework stations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement intoand out of the path of the articles to stop the advance thereof andtraveling support means having a plurality of settable cams mountedthereon, each of which may be set at an operative position to cause saidstop means to move into the path of the articles so as to stop theadvance of the articles on the conveyor means and interrupt the deliveryof an article to a work station, there being a cam for each of the workstations on the work conveyor, and the travel of said cam support meansbeing synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor so that thedelivery of an article to a selected work station may be interrupted bypositioning the corresponding cam on said support means so as to operatesaid sto means, and said traveling cam support means comprising arotatably mounted wheel with said cams mounted thereon for adjustment inradial paths.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, and said rotatably mounted wheelhaving recesses in which said cams are mounted for radial adjustmentbetween inoperative and operative positions.

7. Apparatus for feeding articles to a traveling work conveyor having aplurality of spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an articlefeeding conveyor means on which thearticles are advanced to a station for transfer one by one to successivework stations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement intoand out of the path of the articles to stop the advance thereof andtraveling support means having a plurality of settable cams mountedthereon, each of which may be set at an operative position to cause saidstop means to move into the path of the articles so as to stop theadvance of the articles on the con veyor means and interrupt thedelivery of an article to a work station, there being a cam for eachofthe work stations on the work conveyor, and the travel of said camsupport means being synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor sothat the delivery of an article to a selected work station may beinterrupted by positioning the corresponding cam on said support meansso as to operate said stop means, and said traveling cam support meanscomprising a rotatably mounted disc having radial slots in which saidcams are adjustably mounted.

8. Apparatus for feeding articles to a traveling work can veyor having aplurality ofspaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an article feeding conveyor means on which thearticles are advanced to a station for transfer one by one to successivework stations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement intoand out of the path of the articles to stop the advance thereof andtraveling support means having a plurality of settable cams mountedthereon, each of which may be set at an operative position to cause saidstop means to move into the path of the articles so as to stop theadvance of the articles on the conveyor means and interrupt the deliveryof an article to a work station, there being a cam for each of the workstations on the work conveyor, and the travel of said cam support meansbeing synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor so that thedelivery of an article to a selected work station may be interrupted bypositioning the corresponding cam on said support means so as to operatesaid stop means, and said stop means comprising an arm which is adaptedto be moved into the path of the articles when a cam is moved to anoperative position on said cam support means.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, and said stop means comprising anarm which is swingably mounted and an actuator which is movable to swingthe arm into article-stopping position when said actuator is engaged bya cam which is moved to a predetermined operative position on said camsup port means.

10. Apparatus for feeding articles to a traveling work conveyor having aplurality of spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an articlefeeding conveyor means on which thearticles are advanced to a station for transfer one by one to successivework stations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement intoand out of the path of the articles to stop the advance thereof andtraveling support means having a plurality of settable cams mountedthereon, each of which may be set at an operative position to cause saidstop means to move into the path of the articles so as to stop theadvance of the articles on the conveyor means and interrupt the deliveryof an article to a work station, there being a cam for each of the workstations on the work conveyor, and the travel of said cam support meansbeing synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor so that thedelivery of an article to a selected work station may be interrupted bypositioning the corresponding cam on said sup port means 50 as tooperate said stop means, and said cam support means comprising arotatably mounted disc having said cams mounted thereon for adjustmentradially between an operative and an inoperative position, a fluidcylinder having a piston supporting said article stop means, a fluidsupply line connected to said fluid cylinder, 3 control valve in saidsupply line and a means for actuating said control valve positioned inthe path traversed by said cams when said cams are adjusted to anoperative position.

11. Apparatus for feeding articles to a traveling work conveyor having aplurality of spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an articlefeeding conveyor means on which thearticles are advanced to a station for transfer one by one to successivework stations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement intoand out of the path of the articles advancing on the conveyor to stopthe advance thereof and traveling support means having a plurality ofsettable cams mounted thereon, there being a cam for each of the workstations on the work conveyor, each of said cams being adapted to bemoved from an inoperative position to an operative position where itwill cause said stop means to move into the path of the articles so asto stop the advance of the articles on the conveyor means and interruptthe delivery of an article to a work station, and the travel of said camsupport means being synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor sothat the delivery of an article to a selected work station may beinterrupted by moving to an operative position the cam on said supportmeans which corresponds to the selected work station, and said camsupport means mounted for travel in a generally horizontal path, a fluidmotor connected to said article stop means for moving said stop meansinto and out of the path of said articles and a control member for saidmotor which includes an actuator positioned in the path of said camswhen said cams are adjusted to an operative position.

12. Apparatus for controlling the feed of articles to a travelingconveyor having a series of spaced work stations each adapted to receivean article, an article supply conveyor and an associated indexing devicefor delivering articles to a transfer station in properly spacedrelation for transfer to suc cessive work stations, and a mechanism forinterrupting the feed of the articles to the indexing device so as toskip a work station. which mechanism comprises a stop means disposedadjacent the supply conveyor and adapted to be projected into the pathof the articles on the supply conveyor, and means for prince-ting saidstop means including a series of actuating cams corresponding in numberto the number of work stations, and a traveling cam support means onwhich said cams are mounted for adjustment between operative andinoperative positions with each cam being adjustable at the will of theoperator to project the article stop means into the path of the articlesso as to hold back the advance of the articles temporarily thereby toskip the feed of an article to a work station.

[3. An apparatus for feeding containers to a containerfilling machinehaving a series of traveling work stations, which apparatus comprisesmeans for advancing containers to a station where they are normallytransferred one by one for delivery to successive work stations on thefilling machine. a container stop member positioned adjacent saidcontainer-advancing means which is adapted to be operated to momentarily interrupt the advance of the containers by said container advancingmeans so as to skip the transfer of a container to a work station whendesired in order to take said work station out oloperation.

14. An apparatus for feeding containers to a containerfilling machinewhich is characterized by a series of traveling work stations, saidapparatus comprising means for advancing containers to a station wherethey are normally transferred one by one for delivery to successive workstations on the filling machine. a container stop member positionedadjacent said container-advancing means which is adapted to be operatedto interrupt the advance of the containers by said container advancingmeans for a sufficient length of time to prevent the transfer of acontainer to a work station, means manually settable when it isdesirable to prevent the delivery of a container to a work station andmeans for operating said stop means which is actuated upon apredetermined setting of said manually settable means.

1. Apparatus for feeding articles to a conveyor having a series of workstations each adapted to receive an article, said apparatus cOmprising atraveling article supply conveyor on which the articles are advanced toa station for removal and transfer one by one to successive workstations, an article-engaging member positioned for movement into andout of the path of the articles to stop the advance of the articles onthe conveyor for a predetermined period and a rotating wheel having aplurality of manually settable cams mounted thereon, each of which maybe set at a position to cause said article-engaging member to move intothe path of the articles on the conveyor on each revolution of the wheelso as to interrupt the delivery of articles to the work stations, saidcams being equal in number to the number of work stations, and therotation of said wheel being synchronized with the travel of the workstations so that the delivery of an article to a selected work stationmay be prevented by manually setting the proper cam on said wheel. 2.Apparatus for feeding articles to a turret having a plurality ofperipherally spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article,said apparatus comprising an article supply conveyor on which thearticles are advanced to a station for removal and transfer one by oneto successive work stations on the turret, an article engaging memberpositioned for movement into and out of the path of the articles to stopthe advance thereof and a rotating wheel having a plurality of spacedmovable cams mounted thereon, each of which may be set at a position tocause said article-engaging member to move into the path of the articlesso as to stop the advance of the articles momentarily and interrupt thedelivery of an articles to a work station, said cams being equal innumber to the number of work stations on the turret, and the rotation ofsaid wheel being synchronized with the rotation of the turret so thatthe delivery of an article to each work station is determined by theposition of one of the cams on said wheel.
 3. Apparatus as set forth inclaim 2, and said article engaging member comprising a swingably mountedarm with an associated operating manner which is engageable by a presetcam on said cam carrying wheel.
 4. Apparatus for feeding articles to atraveling work conveyor having a plurality of spaced work stations eachadapted to receive an articles said apparatus comprising anarticle-feeding conveyor means on which the articles are advanced to astation for transfer one by one to successive work stations on the workconveyor, means positioned for movement into and out of the path of thearticles advancing on the article-feeding conveyor means to stop theadvance thereof and a rotatably mounted disc having a plurality of camsmovably mounted thereon, there being a cam for each of the work stationson the work conveyor, each of said cams being movable from aninoperative position to an operative position where it will move saidstop means into the path of the articles so as to stop the advance ofthe articles on the article-feeding conveyor means and interrupt thedelivery of an article to a selected work station, and means forrotating said cam supporting disc with the travel of said disc beingsynchronized with the travel of the work conveyor so that the deliveryof an article to a selected work station may be interrupted by moving toan operative position the cam on said disc which corresponds to theselected work station, said stop means being moved into the path of thearticles to interrupt the advance of an article to said selected workstation upon each rotation of said disc.
 5. Apparatus for feedingarticles to a traveling work conveyor having a plurality of spaced workstations each adapted to receive an article, said apparatus comprisingan article-feeding conveyor means on which the articles are advanced toa station for transfer one by one to successive work stations on thework conveyor, means positioned for movement into and out of the path ofthe articles to stop the advance thereof and traveling support meanshaving a plurality of settable cams mounted thereon, each of which maybe set at an operative position to cause said stop means to move intothe path of the articles so as to stop the advance of the articles onthe conveyor means and interrupt the delivery of an article to a workstation, there being a cam for each of the work stations on the workconveyor, and the travel of said cam support means being synchronizedwith the travel of the work conveyor so that the delivery of an articleto a selected work station may be interrupted by positioning thecorresponding cam on said support means so as to operate said stopmeans, and said traveling cam support means comprising a rotatablymounted wheel with said cams mounted thereon for adjustment in radialpaths.
 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5, and said rotatably mountedwheel having recesses in which said cams are mounted for radialadjustment between inoperative and operative positions.
 7. Apparatus forfeeding articles to a traveling work conveyor having a plurality ofspaced work stations each adapted to receive an article, said apparatuscomprising an article-feeding conveyor means on which the articles areadvanced to a station for transfer one by one to successive workstations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement into andout of the path of the articles to stop the advance thereof andtraveling support means having a plurality of settable cams mountedthereon, each of which may be set at an operative position to cause saidstop means to move into the path of the articles so as to stop theadvance of the articles on the conveyor means and interrupt the deliveryof an article to a work station, there being a cam for each of the workstations on the work conveyor, and the travel of said cam support meansbeing synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor so that thedelivery of an article to a selected work station may be interrupted bypositioning the corresponding cam on said support means so as to operatesaid stop means, and said traveling cam support means comprising arotatably mounted disc having radial slots in which said cams areadjustably mounted.
 8. Apparatus for feeding articles to a travelingwork conveyor having a plurality of spaced work stations each adapted toreceive an article, said apparatus comprising an article-feedingconveyor means on which the articles are advanced to a station fortransfer one by one to successive work stations on the work conveyor,means positioned for movement into and out of the path of the articlesto stop the advance thereof and traveling support means having aplurality of settable cams mounted thereon, each of which may be set atan operative position to cause said stop means to move into the path ofthe articles so as to stop the advance of the articles on the conveyormeans and interrupt the delivery of an article to a work station, therebeing a cam for each of the work stations on the work conveyor, and thetravel of said cam support means being synchronized with the travel ofthe work conveyor so that the delivery of an article to a selected workstation may be interrupted by positioning the corresponding cam on saidsupport means so as to operate said stop means, and said stop meanscomprising an arm which is adapted to be moved into the path of thearticles when a cam is moved to an operative position on said camsupport means.
 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8, and said stop meanscomprising an arm which is swingably mounted and an actuator which ismovable to swing the arm into article-stopping position when saidactuator is engaged by a cam which is moved to a predetermined operativeposition on said cam support means.
 10. Apparatus for feeding articlesto a traveling work conveyor having a plurality of spaced work stationseach adapted to receive an article, said apparatus comprising anarticle-feeding conveyor means on which the articles are advanced to astation for transfer one by one to successive work stations on the workconveyor, means positionEd for movement into and out of the path of thearticles to stop the advance thereof and traveling support means havinga plurality of settable cams mounted thereon, each of which may be setat an operative position to cause said stop means to move into the pathof the articles so as to stop the advance of the articles on theconveyor means and interrupt the delivery of an article to a workstation, there being a cam for each of the work stations on the workconveyor, and the travel of said cam support means being synchronizedwith the travel of the work conveyor so that the delivery of an articleto a selected work station may be interrupted by positioning thecorresponding cam on said support means 50 as to operate said stopmeans, and said cam support means comprising a rotatably mounted dischaving said cams mounted thereon for adjustment radially between anoperative and an inoperative position, a fluid cylinder having a pistonsupporting said article stop means, a fluid supply line connected tosaid fluid cylinder, a control valve in said supply line and a means foractuating said control valve positioned in the path traversed by saidcams when said cams are adjusted to an operative position.
 11. Apparatusfor feeding articles to a traveling work conveyor having a plurality ofspaced work stations each adapted to receive an article, said apparatuscomprising an article-feeding conveyor means on which the articles areadvanced to a station for transfer one by one to successive workstations on the work conveyor, means positioned for movement into andout of the path of the articles advancing on the conveyor to stop theadvance thereof and traveling support means having a plurality ofsettable cams mounted thereon, there being a cam for each of the workstations on the work conveyor, each of said cams being adapted to bemoved from an inoperative position to an operative position where itwill cause said stop means to move into the path of the articles so asto stop the advance of the articles on the conveyor means and interruptthe delivery of an article to a work station, and the travel of said camsupport means being synchronized with the travel of the work conveyor sothat the delivery of an article to a selected work station may beinterrupted by moving to an operative position the cam on said supportmeans which corresponds to the selected work station, and said camsupport means mounted for travel in a generally horizontal path, a fluidmotor connected to said article stop means for moving said stop meansinto and out of the path of said articles and a control member for saidmotor which includes an actuator positioned in the path of said camswhen said cams are adjusted to an operative position.
 12. Apparatus forcontrolling the feed of articles to a traveling conveyor having a seriesof spaced work stations each adapted to receive an article, an articlesupply conveyor and an associated indexing device for deliveringarticles to a transfer station in properly spaced relation for transferto successive work stations, and a mechanism for interrupting the feedof the articles to the indexing device so as to skip a work station,which mechanism comprises a stop means disposed adjacent the supplyconveyor and adapted to be projected into the path of the articles onthe supply conveyor, and means for projecting said stop means includinga series of actuating cams corresponding in number to the number of workstations, and a traveling cam support means on which said cams aremounted for adjustment between operative and inoperative positions witheach cam being adjustable at the will of the operator to project thearticle stop means into the path of the articles so as to hold back theadvance of the articles temporarily thereby to skip the feed of anarticle to a work station.
 13. An apparatus for feeding containers to acontainer-filling machine having a series of traveling work stations,which apparatus comprises means for advancing containers to a staTionwhere they are normally transferred one by one for delivery tosuccessive work stations on the filling machine, a container stop memberpositioned adjacent said container-advancing means which is adapted tobe operated to momentarily interrupt the advance of the containers bysaid container-advancing means so as to skip the transfer of a containerto a work station when desired in order to take said work station out ofoperation.
 14. An apparatus for feeding containers to acontainer-filling machine which is characterized by a series oftraveling work stations, said apparatus comprising means for advancingcontainers to a station where they are normally transferred one by onefor delivery to successive work stations on the filling machine, acontainer stop member positioned adjacent said container-advancing meanswhich is adapted to be operated to interrupt the advance of thecontainers by said container advancing means for a sufficient length oftime to prevent the transfer of a container to a work station, meansmanually settable when it is desirable to prevent the delivery of acontainer to a work station and means for operating said stop meanswhich is actuated upon a predetermined setting of said manually settablemeans.